VitalHub Brings Blockchain Technology to Mental Health

VitalHub has spent the
beginning of 2018 making a dedicated leap into blockchain technology.

The Toronto-based
healthcare technology provider announced on January 11, 2018, that it was entering the intersection of healthcare
and blockchain technology. Previously, the company was focused solely on using
mobile and web applications to provide Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions
aimed at solving industry-wide problems. The company stated in its press
release that blockchain healthcare adoption presented a market opportunity for
the company, citing its “comprehensive domain expertise and understanding of
the digital healthcare marketplace” along with a strong management team and
200-plus customers who would immediately benefit from blockchain solutions.

On January 30, 2018, the
Canadian company furthered its blockchain-led agenda by announcing it was joining Aetna, Eli Lilly and PwC (among other companies)
in adopting Hyperledger-based technologies. In the company press release, VitalHub
explained that its reasoning for the move rested upon a shared commitment to
helping the healthcare industry realize the full potential of open-source
blockchain solutions. According to the announcement, both VitalHub and
Hyperledger believe that blockchain healthcare solutions not only hold the
promise of unifying disparate processes and increasing the volume and liquidity
of data flow, but can also lead to improved patient experiences.

Along with the Hyperledger
announcement, the company also stated that Vijit Coomara, its vice president of
technology, would head up a dedicated blockchain development team.

It didn’t take long for
the Coomara-helmed development team to bear results, as VitalHub introduced a blockchain-based interoperability solution on February 7, 2018.
This solution, named “WellLinc,” aims to reduce the friction associated with
patient records by using blockchain technology to enable an exchange of
critical patient health data across a continuum of care. According to VitalHub CEO
Dan Matlow, WellLinc is “creating a globally viable enterprise solution that
can make electronic mental health records interoperable across the continuum of
care using blockchain technologies.”

WellLinc intends to
focus first on the area of mental health (one of VitalHub’s two main areas of
domain expertise), citing market sizing opportunities and “serious gaps in
mental health care delivery that result from inadequate
access to available patient health information.”

If successful,
WellLinc’s interoperability could save mental healthcare providers a lot of
money. According to a World Health Organization news release from 2016, close to 10 percent of the world’s population is
affected by depression and anxiety, and mental health disorders account for 30
percent of the global nonfatal disease burden. Given that VitalHub’s prior
history is focused on the areas of mental health and long-term care, it seems
likely that a successful adoption of WellLinc by mental healthcare providers
may lead to its expansion to cover critical patient data in the field of long-term
care as well.

While privacy concerns
and worries of unwanted access to mental health records may be of concern to
detractors, not having healthcare records on a distributed ledger makes them
targets for ransomware attacks. According to a report by cyber defense firm Cryptonite, the
number of reported major ransomware attacks on healthcare institutions
increased by 89 percent from 2016 to 2017. Although it remains to be
seen if VitalHub’s foray into blockchain healthcare solutions proves
successful, the company has made blockchain-based healthcare a priority in
2018.